1. Technical Field
The present application relates generally to systems and methods for electronic messaging. More specifically, one or more embodiments relate to systems and methods of increasing the messaging activity of users within a messaging application.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Electronic messaging systems allow users to communicate with others via software applications on one or more types of devices (e.g., desktop devices and mobile devices). For example, some electronic messaging systems allow users of a social network to communicate with other users of the social network (e.g., via direct messaging). Such electronic messaging systems provide a way for users to communicate with a broad spectrum of other users, including family members, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and even businesses.
Conventional electronic messaging systems typically allow users to manage contacts within a software application for initiating and continuing previous communications with other users. For example, some conventional electronic messaging systems allow users to manage the contents and organization of their contact lists. To illustrate, some conventional electronic messaging systems allow users to organize contact lists in alphabetical order. While alphabetically organized contact lists allow users to predictably locate a specific contact within the contact lists, alphabetical contact lists do not easily allow users to find the contacts with which the users communicate the most.
Some conventional electronic messaging systems also allow users to organize at least some contacts based on frequency and/or recency of communications. Specifically, contacts that a user communicates with the most or has communicated with most recently may be listed at the top of the contact list, while contacts that the user communicates with the least and/or contacts that the user hasn't communicated with for some time may be listed at the bottom of the contact list. Thus, some conventional electronic messaging systems provide a way for users to more easily find and select contacts with which the users have communicated in the past. Historic frequency and recency of communication, however, may not be the most likely predictor of whether the users are likely to engage in future frequent and meaningful conversations with the contacts within the messaging application.
In addition to drawbacks associated with the management of contacts lists, conventional messaging systems also suffer from drawbacks with respect to notifications provided to users. For example, many conventional electronic messaging systems end up spamming users of a software application with many notifications that are not applicable to the users and that the users may find annoying. Users often end up turning off such notifications or simply ignoring the notifications if the notifications are not helpful to the users. Some users can even be turned away from continued use of the software application if the notifications become too annoying.
Accordingly, there are a number of disadvantages with conventional electronic messaging systems and methods.